EuroMOMO Bulletin, Week 20, 2020

Excess mortality observed

Pooled estimates of all-cause mortality from the EuroMOMO network show declining levels of excess mortality, after a high excess observed overall for the European countries, which has coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. This excess mortality has been driven by a very substantial mortality excess in some countries, while other countries have seen no excess. The mortality excess has mainly been seen in the age group of ≥65 years, but also in the age group of 15-64 years.

For the EuroMOMO network as a whole, from week 10, 2020 and as of week 20, there were over 159,000 excess deaths estimated in total, including 143,000 in the age group ≥65 years and 13,000 in the 15-64 years age group. This time period includes part of the influenza season as well as the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mortality levels now appear to be approaching normal expected level in several of the affected countries. However, the data reported for the most recent weeks must be read with caution, despite the applied correction for delay in registration.

Note on data from Ireland

In Ireland, as a result of very significant delays in death registrations during March and April 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, weekly z-scores of excess all-cause mortality do not reflect current COVID-19 (and non-COVID-19) excess mortality in Ireland. Further data on notified COVID-19 deaths in Ireland are available on the HPSC.ie website

Note on interpretation of data: The number of deaths shown for the three most recent weeks should be interpreted with caution, as adjustments for delayed registrations may be imprecise. Furthermore, results of pooled analyses may vary depending on countries included in the weekly analyses. Pooled analyses are adjusted for variation between the included countries and for differences in the local delay in reporting.

About EuroMOMO network data sharing and collaboration

During the current COVID-19 pandemic, information on its mortality impact is of major concern. The EuroMOMO network hub receives many questions about the weekly mortality data we present, as well as requests to share the underlying national data. While the network fully supports data sharing, the network hub is not mandated by the participating countries to release any national data. If you are interested in accessing national data, please approach countries individually.

The EuroMOMO network welcomes collaboration with external partners, e.g. about additional analyses and modelling to be performed. If you are interested in engaging with the network about any such collaboration, please forward your ideas to the hub, for wider sharing and dialogue with the network.

Kindly note that any use of data or information originating from the EuroMOMO website must be appropriately quoted and acknowledged.